Customer Reviews

Please just listen

I could write so many reasons for why I live this show, but please just listen to it. It’s amazing.

ZackMan 69
, 08/06/2019

You have to listen!

Do you like explosions? Witches? Do you like Cyborgs with baseball bats? What about Eldritch horrors so grotesque and mind shattering that they will leave you foaming at the mouth and laying on the ground?

If you answered, “Yes.” To any of these then this is the podcast for you. If you answered, “No.” Then unfortunately you’re wrong, and you especially need to listen to the podcast.

Seriously, this is such a great podcast with great writing and a great cast with amazing guest players from all your favorite podcasts. Their discord server is home to the most dedicated fans.

Keep up the great work Operatives.

BiohazardJeff
, 07/08/2019

Exceptional

I am as professional as most roleplaying game designers get, meaning I have published three acclaimed RPG lines. If decades of feedback are to be believed, I am also an exceptional game moderator. I write these claims not to brag, but to establish my bonafides as context for this review of the Orpheus Protocol.

Rob Stith has created something unique and wonderful with his actual play podcast.

First, Rob is an exemplary game moderator. His complex plotting, tense pacing, lurid descriptions and consistent characterizations provide a master class in how to run role playing games.

Second, the show’s production quality is superior. From the recording clarity and careful editing to the soundtrack and recap intros, the podcast is a professional rarity among actual plays. The cast is uniformly strong and they are consistent, clever and compelling in evoking their characters.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, the world Rob has built in the Orpheus Protocol has a kind of verisimilitude that is not only rare in RPGs, but uncommon in any creative medium. Despite the disparate natures of the mythologies and other source material that appear in his story, he weaves them together with a believable nuance that makes an otherwise tired idea - secret, supernatural organizations fighting to control the fate of the world - fresh and compelling. I don’t think it’s inaccurate or excessive to describe Rob as Gaiman-like, as the Orpheus Protocol reminds me of the Sandman series in its hard-to-achieve combination of audacity and believability.

If you like thriller-style conspiracy stories bathed in visceral horror, or actual plays driven by superior role playing and expert-level game mastering, the Orpheus Protocol is a must-listen.